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LOS ANGELES — It had to be.
Baseball’s 2 champion teams – the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants – volition adhd a section to their past rivalry aft Chris Taylor’s two-run, walk-off location tally successful the ninth inning Wednesday nighttime gave the Dodgers a 3-1 triumph implicit the St. Louis Cardinals successful the National League wild-card game.
The best-of-five NL Division Series volition commencement Friday nighttime astatine Oracle Park, featuring 2 teams that person each won 107 games.
Taylor was an improbable leader aft going crystal acold down the stretch. He batted .108 (7 for 65) with 26 strikeouts successful his past 25 games of the regular season.
But Taylor came up with 2 outs and Cody Bellinger successful scoring presumption against Cardinals reliever Alex Reyes and crushed a 2-and-1 slider for the game-winner.
Long earlier that, the pitching matchup for the aged went to furniture early.
This was not the weapons-grade Max Scherzer the Dodgers saw for 9 starts aft his trade-deadline accomplishment from Washington.
He went to a afloat number connected 5 of the archetypal 10 batters helium faced Wednesday, walked 3 (matching his full for his last six regular-season starts) and threw 78 pitches conscionable to get done 4 innings. Seven Cardinals batters took him to afloat counts and 5 reached basal (three walks, a deed batter and a single).
But Scherzer enactment his ft down erstwhile helium had to, holding the Cardinals to 0 for 6 with runners successful scoring position. Their lone tally against Scherzer scored connected a chaotic transportation erstwhile Dodgers catcher Will Smith couldn’t smother a slider successful the ungraded with Tommy Edman connected 3rd basal successful the archetypal inning.
Edman led disconnected the 5th with different azygous and Scherzer walked Paul Goldschmidt for the 2nd time. Scherzer blew a 95-mph fastball past Tyler O’Neill connected his 94th transportation of the nighttime – and his last.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts came to get Scherzer aft 4-1/3 innings and 21 batters. It was Scherzer’s shortest postseason commencement since helium gave up six runs successful 2-1/3 innings for the Detroit Tigers against the Texas Rangers successful Game 6 of the 2011 ALCS.
Roberts’ aboriginal hook did not delight Scherzer who did not springiness up the shot (Roberts reached into his mitt and took it aft shaking Scherzer’s different hand) and stalked the dugout concisely aft departing.
But it proved timely. Joe Kelly worked retired of the jam, getting Nolan Arenado to bounce into a forceout and striking retired Dylan Carlson with a nasty curveball.
Meanwhile, 40-year-old Adam Wainwright escaped a bases-loaded concern with 1 retired successful the 3rd inning, getting Trea Turner to bounce into a treble play, lone to springiness up a solo location tally to Justin Turner successful the fourth.
It was Justin Turner’s 13th postseason location tally (extending his franchise record). Only 1 progressive subordinate has much – teammate Albert Pujols (19).
But Turner’s homer was 1 of lone 3 balls the Dodgers deed retired of the infield successful six innings against Wainwright and reliever Luis Garcia. Their different 3 hits successful that clip were infield singles.
Bellinger lit the fuse harmlessly enough, drafting a two-out locomotion and stealing 2nd basal earlier Taylor’s walk-off location run.
More to travel connected this story.
Taylor-made ending. pic.twitter.com/sQviI5S0fr
— MLB (@MLB) October 7, 2021
English (US) ·